Autumn is all about the trees

 Every autumn for the past five years, I've been creating and selling woodland themed fingerless gloves (aka wrist warmers).  I never tire of finding interesting color combinations and debuting new designs. 

  Each tree is hand cut and prepared for applique.  I choose to use fleece to applique, rather than felt (which some people like because it's easier).  Sewing fleece over stretchy fleece, is tricky but ends in a more organic style AND is much softer and flexible to wear.

 When you put your hands together, the two gloves form a tree.

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One Leaf Tree is my signature design.  It represents the last leaf on the tree in the fall and the first leaf on the tree in the spring.  It symbolizes patience, optimism and our connection to nature.  

Happy Autumn all!

Getting the most of the last few days of summer

How does August 1 roll around so fast every summer? We get the sudden urge to get out in the woods, hike our favorite trails, go play in nature. Here's the gorgeous Sahalie falls in Oregon.


My boys enjoying the cool mist coming off the icy blue waters.


The water rushes down river in a fast rush, but there are little quiet pools to cool your pads.


The amazing blue.




Surprises along the trail.

The old wood bridge above Sahalie falls.


Our local Mt Pisgah park. Its so important for kids to have time to leap, play, climb, explore in nature.


One explorer, and one who loves to catch fish to inhabit the temporary pools before being released.


What artist mama isn't inspired by a good hike and time to play by the river?
Happy summer Oregon 2011.

Where the Gnomes Roam

Gnome ornaments bring their woodland cheer for the holidays. Holidays in September? Yep, this is the time of year my stores and boutiques are putting in their wholesale orders for gnomes and wrist warmers. :-) It's both fun AND efficient to make a big batch at once, now I'm stocked up.


I used my gocco to transform my original gnomes drawings into a silk screen. To print an image, I coat the squeegee with printing paint, and draw it smoothly across the screen. One at a time. They dry over night, I hand paint the hats red, and heat set with my iron. Then the gnomes are ready to be stitched and stuffed for ornaments....... or.........



This year, the gnomes have found their way onto my wrist warmers. Soft, fleecy, washable, fingerless gloves to walk the dog, wear to school, type, knit, work your phone, or play music in.

To stay up to date on new projects and store sales, join my Bliss Monkey Studio Fan page on facebook.

New fingerless gloves for fall

New fingerless gloves for the season! All stitched up and ready for you to wear to class, type at work, ride your bike, walk the dog, and match all your outfits.


These are the new prints: pink argyle, into the woods, blue argyle, aurora bliss. Of course I also carry solid colors and tree applique designs.


Sir Scoopie helps model the new wrist warmers.

Our new friends

Meet our new friends? They are wee little girl guinea pigs. Have you ever had a guinea pig? They are so cute and sweet and funny. We love all their noises.

I grew up with rabbits as pets, and had wonderful pet rats as an adult. I'd say that qualifies me as being a "pet rodent lover". My 9 year old and I have been interested in guinea pigs and did our research. Two weeks ago, we ended up choosing these two sweeties.

The white one is Snowy.

This is Autumn. She's a bit bossy with Snowy. They are still shy and new to living with our family, but they come running when we show up with vegetables several times a day. We love them so much already.

New Bamboo Cutlery Cozies

New cutlery cozy designs: Lemons

These have been selling pretty well, so I dove into a purchase of 200 cutlery sets! Soooo, tell all your friends to buy some! :-)

Cutlery cozy cover: kitchen aid, with new clip size.

Around the studio and kitchen

This clematis has gone crazy this year, almost obscuring my studio window! A pretty green and purple curtain.



I highly recommend taking Carla Sondheim's online art classes. She's sooooo much fun! Great exercises for new or experienced artists. Each class is a week long, and very affordable. Easy to fit into any summer/fall schedule. I had a blast and learned some new techniques.


More tiny little people.........

Favorite blooms.

I love watching poppies unfold.

This flower has a little owlet under.

Quillan's gluten-free birthday carrot, pineapple, spice cake, sweetened with coconut nectar and honey. He loved it.

Ok, this isn't the prettiest picture, but it symbolizes the OTHER big hobby I've been spending my time on this summer (besides making fun things for my etsy shops and stocking up for the holidays).

I recently compleeted a series of food sensitivity tests and now realize I need to feed myself and my family with foods free of wheat, cane sugar, corn, yeast, sesame, coffee, chocolate, and many small items.

The results were overwhelming at first, but I wasn't feeling well, so I dove into a cleanse (that included being dairy free as well) and have spent a long time learning new ways of cooking (baking gluten free and alternatives to cane sugar). Due to the combination of foods I'm avoiding, I've had to cook everything from scratch: condiments, dips, sauce, as well as any baked goods we want to eat.

A month later, I'm feeling excellent, food addiction-free, 8lbs lighter, have learned so much about food ingredients, and how big industry creates our cultural reliance on foods that aren't good for us.

I may or may not add more posts about food, so for my main message, I'd like to encourage anyone diagnosed with food allergies or sensitivities- know you aren't alone. More and more people are becoming educated about food issues. Don't worry about what you "can't eat", just jump in and learn how good you can feel. No food tastes better than feeling great. AND both my kids LOVE all the news grains we've added to our diet, all the cooking we do together, and eating even MORE healthful food.